The Corbett Office Plus Royals grounded the Talon Benefits Snakes 5-2 in Sunday’s final of the Vernon Midget Rec Hockey Winter Classic at Civic Arena.
Adam Roemer supplied 2+1 for the Royals, who got 1+4 from Jaden Steinke and other goals from Ryan Pelkey and Keefer Kaempf. Nikolai Negraiff and Liam Hennig replied for the Snakes in a showdown of Vernon teams. D-man Chase Larsen was MVP for the Snakes.
The Royals, who went undefeated in preliminary play, bounced the Authentic Plaque & Trophy Black Mambas 5-3 in the semis Sunday morning at Civic.
“Cole Bradley, Haydon Vardon, Adam Sacht and Ryan Jakes all worked hard in front of goalie Garrett Adams,” said Royals’ head coach Frank Kaempf, assisted by Scott Horsfield, Curt Steinke and Dave Roemer.
In round-robin play, the Royals thumped South Okanagan 7-4, tied West Kelowna Whalers 2-2 and drew 5-5 with Chilliwack Blackhawks.
Leading the offence was Austin Bosquet with 7+1, while human wrecking ball Roemer supplied 6+3. Kaempf (3+1), Pelkey (2+1), Steinke (1+3), Sacht (1+3), Brendan Horsfield (1+2), Rowan Wood, Bradley (6A), Adam McIvor (2A) and Vardon (2A) also helped offensively. Kaiden Parton was strong along the boards and was a force in the final.
The Snakes brushed back the Nedco Fellas 3-2 in the other semifinal at Kal Tire Place.
Ryley Johnson and game MVP Jeff Hiscoe put the Snakes up 2-0 in the first period, but Nedco rallied with Bantam call-up Chris Aldrich and Brandon Magnus levelling the score by 13:48 of the third period. Game MVP Riley Bos assisted on both snipes.
Dustin Beckner registered the winner with 1:44 left, assisted by Negraiff.
“We are very proud of our team, with all the adversity we have faced lately and being short-handed for various reasons,” said Nedco head coach Darren Zupp.
The Snakes, led by last year’s Senior Coach of the Year, Hedley Larsen, stuffed West Kelowna 6-2 in their opener with Negraiff named MVP. Jeremy Pogue (4+1), Beckner and Larsen provided goals.
Beckner dialed a deuce and bagged MVP as the Snakes stopped Chilliwack 6-4, while Rhys Larsen was MVP in net as the Snakes ambushed Williams Lake Purple 9-1.
Johnson, Tim Ufimtseff, Lucas Towers and Scott Gibson also scored versus Chilliwack.
Larsen (4+2), Johnson (2), Martin Grenier, Liam Hennig and Alex Laurila pocketed snipes against Williams Lake.
The Fellas started preliminary action by clipping Kamloops 3-2 on two goals from MVP Brett Lambert and a single by Bos. Brooke Toop produced three assists, while Dale Cooper had a pair in support of Ethan Huizinga.
The Nedco crew then shaded West Kelowna 2-1 on snipes by captain Lee Brodoway and Bryton Stead. Huizinga took game MVP.
Brodoway supplied 1+2 as the Fellas tied Chilliwack 5-5. Daniel Desjarlais, Jim Brodoway, Toop and Bos handled the attack with Cole Martin earning two helpers. Dale Cooper was MVP.
The Black Mambas iced the Snakes 6-4 in a make-up Super League game Monday night at Civic.
Marcus Finn (3), Leland Riguedell, Branden Lehoux and Liam Semeniuk pocketed goals for the first-place Mambas (6-2).
Larsen (2), Martin Grenier and Alex Laurila answered for the Snakes.
Working hard every shift supporting the Black Mamba offensive drives were Brennan Seltzer, Tyler Semeniuk, Nick Demetrick and Gaman Nijjar. Colton Annis had a marvellous showing in net.
In Pee Wee Super League play, the Vernon Rebels toppled Askew’s Foods of Salmon Arm 7-2 Saturday at Kal Tire Place
Liam Reid pulled the hat trick for the Rebels (5-2-1), who received a deuce from Ephren Potter-Cramer and singles from Nicolas Petty and Alyssa Reilly.
Kassidy Schaper-Kotter and Jakob Aeichele split the goaltending duties.
The first-place Bannister Blazers bottled up the host Winfield Bruins 5-2 Sunday morning.
Cody Beckner bagged two goals, both assisted by Aiden Skinner. Jayden Veit, Dawson Martian and Nick Tilby contributed singles for the 8-1 Blazers.
The Bannister crew got another stellar performance by the goaltending duo of Jared Ross and Eric Strutinski along with the stingy defence of Tydon Louis, Trevor Moore and Brenden James. Game MVP went to Aiden Rivard.
The Lumby Stars, sponsored by Terry’s Automotive and Irly Bird Building Centre, outgunned the Kelowna Snipers 7-5 in Sunday’s final of their home Atom tourney at Pat Duke Memorial Arena.
Lumby jumpstarted things by rattling the Vernon Everton Ridge Homes Red Devils 11-4 Saturday morning before bouncing the Kamloops Bulldogs 8-4.
On Sunday, the Stars iced the Kelowna Bruins 5-2 and then defeated the Kelowna Greyhounds 8-5 in the semifinals.
Receiving the Heart and Hustle game awards were Ryder Quibell, Bryden Murray, Kyle Wheeler, Jace Catt and Zachary Young. Players who earned the team’s hard hat for outstanding effort were Ryder Quibell, Faith Seehaver, Cameron Smithson, Tori Maltman and Garrett Louis.
The Lumby Atom Stars thanked tournament sponsors: Chris Pryor, the Christmas Ranch Tree Farm, Earth Elements Farm Products, Gilbert’s Parts Depot (Lumby), Jitter Beans Coffee House, Joy of the Mountains and Sun Valley Source for Sports.
The Sladen Moore Atom/Pee Wee girls only had one sub Saturday and fell 8-1 to host Kamloops.
Shelby Richard, assisted by Ivy May Scott, had the Vernon goal. Katrina Winstanley made countless saves, while Kristi Vassberg, Sarah Claeys, Katelyne Andrew and MacKenzie Miller skated miles.
The Winfield Bruins rallied from a 4-2 deficit with three unanswered goals to edge the Interior Savings Just Orange 5-4 in North Okanagan Bantam Super League action Sunday night at the Civic Arena.
Seb Wenger had two goals and an assist for Just Orange in the third such exciting, clean, entertaining game between the two teams this season. Reece Hawthorne and Braydie Allen-Webber had the other goals for Interior Savings with Allen-Webber being a force on the blue line, blocking a handful of shots. Evan Trottier chipped in with a pair of assists.
Caedon Bellmann and Sam Knox split the goaltending duties, both making a number of key saves for Just Orange (2-5-3).
The host Vernon Lakers Bantam girls lost 4-3 to Kelowna in exhibition play Saturday night.
Emma Carter collected 1+2 for the Lakers, while Chelsea Marshall and Morgan Holland added singles Holland won the Hard Worker award. Saylor Martian had two helpers.
The Lakers, sponsored by Lumby Tirecraft, rebounded Sunday afternoon by tying visiting Merritt 3-3.
Payton Kineshanko, Marshall and Taylor Cousins posted goals with Jessica Chillihitzia’s hard work resulted in an assist on Cousins’ snipe. Demi Williamson earned the Hard Worker honour and two penalties.
